Refrigerator



Dec. 31, 1940. K E ZEIDLER l2,226,795

REFRIGERATOR Filed Jan. 5, 1939 Patented Dec. 31, 1940 UNITED STATES 22ans 2,226,795 REFRIGERATOR Kurt E. Zeidler, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Standard Railway Refrigerator Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Application January 5, 1939, Serial No. 249,473

7 Claims.

This invention relates to refrigerator cars used to transport perishable commodities at a predetermined temperature. The essential features of such a car are an insulated structure and a refrigerating meansr for use in warm weather or a heating means for use in cold weather.

The invention relates particularly to refrigerator cars of the overhead bunker type. Cars of this type have the refrigerant containers suspended immediately below the roof. They are often provided with drip pans below thecontainers to form refrigerant compartments below the roof and'adjacent the side walls of the car.

. It is also common to provide vertical nues associated with the -side walls and extending to near the oor. 'I'hese u'es serve as passages for the flow of refrigerated air from the refrigerant compartment to below the floor racks of the car so that it may circulate upwardly through the lading and also serve to drain liquid from the drip pans.

There are several types of refrigerant containers used in cars of this type, depending upon the refrigerant to be used. For fresh water ice or eutectic ice, a foraminous basket made from Wire screen, expanded metal, or perforated plate, is suitable. A common type of container is a semi-'brine tank'having a foraminous upper portion tov facilitate air circulation and an imperforate lower part for partial retention of brine. It is sometimes desirable to retain all of the melted ice as a liquid, in which case the container would be a tank entirely imperforate and preferably sealed. An imperforate tank is also desirable when the refrigerant is dry ice because the sublimed 'gas is harmful to some types of lading and because the rate of sublimation may be controlled by controlling the pressure within the tank.

The drip pans underneath the containers have two important functions. They provide flues below the containers for the circulation of cooled air to the side flues and they also protect the lading against drip from the containers. The drip may be melted refrigerant from a foraminous basket or from a semi-foraminous container. If an imperforate tank is used with brine or dry ice as the refrigerant, there is considerable condensation on the cold walls of the tank. This condensation may be a source of the above mentioned drip.

It is usually desirable to provide means by which the refrigerant containers may be cleaned or repaired. A common expedient is to provide drip pans which are removable, or preferably,

hinged to the car structure to facilitate handling. If the drip pans are made to extend continuously from end to end of the car, they handling would be very difficult. To overcome this objection, they may-be constructed in short sections but `then means must be provided tol prevent drip through the spaces between adjacent drip pans.

It is an object of this invention to provide means to prevent dripping of liquid through the spaces between adjacent drippans. A further object of the invention is to provide said means so that it will not interfere with the flow of liquid and cooled air toward the side flues. In other words, the drip-prevention means should` not interfere with the refrigeration efciency. It is a still further object to provide said drip-prevention means in such a form that it will not interfere with the removal of drip pans for cleaning and repairing purposes.

Other advantages and Yobjects of my invention will be apparent" from the following detailed description by referring to the dravwlngin which:

Fig. 1 is a partial transverse sectionof a refrigerator car equipped with foraminous refrig erant containers. v f

Fig. 2 i-s a longitudinal section of the car shown in Fig. 1. 'Ilhe section is on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Figs. 3 to 6 show modiiedconstructions.

The parts of the refrigerator car shown in Fig. l are side plate 2; side sheathing 3; side lining 4; false wall 5; providing the nue 6; roof 1; running board V8;, hatch frame 9 surrounding the hatch IIJ; ceiling II; refrigerant container I2 having a bottom I3; side walls I4 and end walls l5; center duct I 6 formed by the wall I'I; drip pan I8; and insulation I9. The drip pan I8 preferably comprises a wood supporting and insulating member 20 and a metallic protecting member 2I. The drip pan I8 maybe hingedat (2,2) to the wall 5 and provided with a latch 23 at the wall I1, although the invention is not limited by this arrangement. For example, a latch could be substituted for the hinge 22, in which case the drip pan could be entirely removed.

The refrigerant containers vI2 are spaced apart to provide the duct 29 and the invention consists essentially of providing means to prevent liquid dripping from the containers I3 through the space 30 between adjacent drip pans I8. As heretofore explained, it is advantageous to provide the drip pan in several sections to facilitate the handling thereof. The space 30 between the sections must be suicient to permit one section' to clear the adjacent section during the swinging or removal thereof, l

As shown in Fig. 2, a member 3I is secured to vent dripping therethrough. The member 3! extends substantially the width of the container I2, width being defined as the distance between the sidewalls I4 of a container I2.

Fig. 3 shows a modified design in which the me tallic drip pan members 2I are provided with upstanding iianges 35. An inverted channelshaped member 36 is secured to the containers I2 as shown. The downwardly projecting anges 31 of the channel 3S preferably extend below the tops of the upstanding flanges 35, thus effectively preventing dripping and splashing through the space 3B.

The modification shown in Fig. 4 may be used when the distance between adjacent containers I2 is relatively great. The member 4D is sho-wn having an imperforate part 4I overlying the space 30 and projecting parts 42 for attachment to the containers. rIhe parts 42 may be made separately and attached to the part 4I, as shown in the drawing, or they may be formed integral therewith. This construction may beV used when it is desired to save weight and when it is felt that a relatively wide imperforate member 4B would be detrimental to air circulation. In Fig. 4 the metallic drip pan members 2I are Shown formed with upstanding flanges 43 and reflanges 4d. The reiianges 44 tend to prevent liquid splashing over theflanges 43 and through the space 30.

Fig. 5 shows a modification similar to Fig. 3 but with the addition of the rei-langes 41 to the Y upstanding flanges 35 of the drip pan protecting members 2|.

In Fig. 6 a supporting member 50, which is similar in function to the projecting parts 42 of Fig. 4, extends between adjacent containers I2. An inverted channel member 5I is supported, preferably by the member 5U, so as to overlie the upstanding flanges 53 of the drip pan protecting members 2|.

The drawing should not be construed as limiting the invention. Althoughk a foraminous basket-type refrigerant container is shown, the members 3|, 36, or 40 could be equally well adapted to other types of containers, some of which have been heretofore described. The member 3| could be secured to the ends of the containers or the member 36 to the bottoms.

'Ihe accompanying drawing illustrates the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. In a refrigerator, spaced apart refrigerant containers with an air duct therebetween, a drip pan spaced below each container for draining liquid therefrom, the adjacent edges of said drip pans being below said duct, and means to prevent liquid from said containers from dripping between said adjacent edges, said means comprising a member over said adjacent edges and supported by said containers with means on each side of said member for air communication between said duct and the spaces below said containers.

2. In a refrigerator, spaced apart refrigerant containers with an air duct therebetween, a drip pan below each container for draining liquid therefrom, the adjacent edges .of said drip pans being below said duct and provided with upstanding flanges, and means to prevent liquid from said containers from dripping between said adjacent edges, said means comprising an inverted channel member supported by said containers and overlying said adjacent edges.

3. In a refrigerator, spaced apart refrigerant containers with an air duct therebetween, a drip pan below each container for draining liquid therefrom, the adjacent edges of said drip pans being below said duct and provided with upstanding flanges, and means to prevent liquid from said containers from dripping between said adjacent edges, said means comprising a member over said adjacent edges and supported by said containers.

4. In a refrigerator, spaced apart refrigerant containers with an air duct therebetween, a drip pan below each container for draining liquid therefrom, the adjacent edges of said drip pans being below said duct and provided with upstanding flanges having inwardly projecting reflanges, and means to prevent liquid from said containers from dripping between said adjacent edges, said meansA comprising a member` over said adjacent edges and supported by said containers.

5. In a refrigerator car having a roof and a wall, a pair of `spaced apart refrigerant con tainers below said roof and adjacent said wall, an air iiue associated with said wall below said containers, a drip pan spaced below each of said containers to form a space therebetween, the

adjacent edges of said drip pans vbeing below the duct between said containers, means whereby air is circulated from a part of the car remote from said wall through said duct and said space to said flue, and a member supported by said containers above the adjacent edges of said drip pans to prevent liquid dripping therebetween.

6. A structure as dened in claim 2 wherein the lower edges of the depending ianges of said channel member are lower than the upper edges of the upstanding flanges of said drip pans.

7. A structure as defined in claim 2 wherein the upstanding flanges of said drip pans are provided with inwardly projecting anges.

KURT E. ZEIDLER. 

